The Princess and the Viking
by kari-ky3wt
Summary: What happens if a soon-to-be-betrothed princess and the heir to an enemy land meet and fall in love? Two warring lands... A forbidden love... Will they be able to change their fate and mend the bond torn by war between their lands?
1. PROLOGUE

I am a princess. I've got duties, responsibilities, expectations. No weapons! At least, that's what my mother thinks. I live in hopes that someday there will come a time that I don't have to be a princess. But, will I ever be able to change my fate?

I am a viking. I've got maps, gears, weapons, and best of all, dragons! Well, that is, now that we befriended them. I have learned to live with our ways along with these new companions. But, is there something else... waiting for me out there?

Maybe, just maybe... It's time for something... something different...


	2. Chapter 1: The Games

Merida is sitting on her place in the thrones of Dun Broch. It is the day that the young lords from the different Scottish clans are to be presented for her betrothal. She grunts with crossed arms as the suitors are presented to her one by one.

_Young Macintosh_. He looks like the guy. Broad shoulders, medium build, flowing locks, and vanquished a thousand foes.

_Young MacGuffin_. More of a hulk than a hunk. Large beefy arms, extra lumps on the side and vanquished two thousand foes. For real?

_Young Dingwall_. Now, this one's a surprise. And after all of them thinking wrong about who the young lord is, Lord Dingwall pulls out his son and introduces him. A small man, not even close to medium build, but as his father claims, took out a whole armada single-handedly and struck down a whole attacking fleet.

Not ready for this arrangement in marriage, all she wants is for the day to be over. Just then, the Queen Elinor makes the great announcement.

"By rights of our heritage, only the first born of each clan shall compete fer the hand of the princess of Dun Broch. Tae win the fair maiden, they must prove their worth by feats of strength or arms en the games. And the challenge will be determined by the princess herself."

Merida knows she is the best archer in the land, after her father, the King Fergus. It comes to her mind that with this, the boys will not stand a chance.

Standing from her throne and acting lady-like, she puts her hands together, and from her mouth comes the words, "I choose archery."

~0~

"Hey, bud! We could use a rest stop, don't you think?" Hiccup says, petting Toothless.

The night fury growls lightly in affirmation. They have been flying and exploring for quite a few hours now. Dragons were a problem in Berk, where they live. Now, everyone is flying their own dragon and enjoying what they call _Dragon Races_. But Hiccup has always been different. After beating the Red Death and finally changing their people's minds about dragons, he figures there must be something else worth discovering out there. Whether it's to avoid his father or just for plain amusement, flying around with his reptilian friend always gives him that certain feeling of contentment and happiness that compares to nothing else. Or so, he thought. They glide steadily, slicing through the sky with the wind on their faces and the clouds at their feet. Looking around, the viking finds a patch of land and tells his dragon companion to head straight towards it.

~0~

Everyone in the kingdom gets busy with the tournament, most especially, the young lords who are preparing for the great archery contest. The thrones are erected, the targets are placed and the villagers are gathered. The contestants then march up to their respective places for the start of the games.

"Oi, get on wi'h et!" the king's voice booms, signaling to start.

It is enough to make the first contestant, the young MacGuffin, shudder as he waves the bow about, getting ready to aim. And to each failed shot, the princess laughs, thinking they're better off tossing cabers or wielding swords, than shooting targets. But as the last contestant, the young Dingwall, fires his shot, everyone gets shocked. He actually hits the target. More of an accident than actually aiming for it, really. The young lad was too busy fitting the arrow into the bow that he got alarmed at the huff of the monarch, who was getting impatient.

"Well, tha's jus' grand now, is'nae et?" exclaims the King Fergus, turning to his daughter.

But to everyone's surprise, the princess is gone. The crowd goes murmuring and whispering to each other as to where she could be.

~0~

Merida sneaks out of the tournament and makes her way through the forest on her horse, Angus. Wandering aimlessly through it, she is still angered of the tradition she has to undergo. Nevertheless, she feels the need to escape from everything, even if it means both trouble and rumors. She is muttering something under her breath when they reach a clearing surrounded by huge towering stones. Startled, the Clydesdale horse accidentally throws her over, making her land right on the center. Grunting, she sits up and brushes away her mane of fiery red curls from her face.

"Angus!" she calls out angrily.

The horse whinnies, galloping around and there the princess gasps as she notices what was around her. She gets on her feet and looks around, realizing she has never been on this part of the forests before. She stares in awe, taking a few steps back as her eyes are glued to the sight of the unusual stones. All of a sudden, a familiar little blue flame, what she calls a wisp, appears a few meters from where she stands. As she gets closer to it, it vanishes but reappears giving her a whole trail of wisps leading deep into the forest. She gets curious and decides to follow it, with Angus trailing behind. As a child, she has been told that these wisps lead to a person's fate. The last time she encountered these mysterious ghost-like beings, she was being taught archery for the first time by her father. He even joked that the wisps led her to finding the arrow she shot loose that missed the target. She now wonders where they will lead her to and what she will find. They follow the trail into what seems to be the darkest part of the forest. The trees are huge with thick branches and wide leaves that stick out everywhere, not allowing much sunlight to go through. The horse neighs and nudges her from behind, wanting to go back. But she silences him and goes on her way. They continue until the last one disappears near a cliff at the forest's edge.

"Why wou'd th' wisps lead meh here?" she asks, though knowing her horse could not respond.

They walk a few more steps until they hear a low growl, probably of some forest creature. Merida winces at this and looks around for any sign of what it was. What she sees is not what she expected. It is black, has four paws, and... wings? She unknowingly steps on a fallen twig. It lets out a creaking sound and makes the creature turn to where she was. She gasps and suddenly sees the craning silhouette of its large scaly head loom against the afternoon sun. As it approaches, a shriek escapes her mouth and she falls back.


	3. Chapter 2: The Encounter

Hiccup heads back to the cliff where he left his dragon. He is famished and had just gone to get themselves some food.

"Look, bud! I got us some dinner!" he calls out, holding up a handful of fish.

He stops short as he notices the dragon looking at something, or rather, someone. As he draws himself nearer, he catches sight of a girl with striking red hair. She is on the ground with a Clydesdale horse in front of her anxiously neighing at the night fury.

"Toothless!"

He rushes in between the two.

"Woah! Easy, boy. Easy..." he holds up his hand and calms the horse, who immediately simmers down as the night fury backed a few steps.

Angus makes a snorting sound and starts sniffing Hiccup, making him chuckle. The viking then goes to the girl, who is still on the ground.

"Are you alright, Miss? I'm sorry. Here, let me help you." he starts, lending a hand to Merida.

She sits up and runs her fingers through her mass of curls, brushing away those that blocked her view. She looks up and meets the gaze of his prominent green eyes. With her face fully revealed, he gets dazed for a moment. Mesmerized by her blue orbs, it seems as though he is looking into the ocean itself - clear, steady and sparkling. They stare at each other for a full minute, just taking in each other's features. Not a moment later, the redhead's brows begin to furrow.

"Are ye jus' goin' tae stare a' meh?" her thick Scottish accent apparent as she speaks, surprising him.

His eyes widen and he vigorously shakes his head, obviously trying to come to his senses.

"I uh... I... I'm sorry again, Miss." he stammers, bending nearer with his hand still held out.

She dismisses his help and instead gets up on her own, patting the dirt off her dress.

He then stands straight back and clears his throat, "My name's Hiccup, and you are...?"

"Merida." she responds, with a hint of hostility in her tone.

Toothless growls low as if to be noticed.

"Oh, and this is Toothless, my dragon."

Angus neighs and Merida gasps, taking a step back as the dragon moves closer.

"Y-yer dragon?!"

"It's... kind of a long story." he grins.

The night fury bobs its head and smiles its signature tooth-less smile. The redhead stares in awe at the creature in front of her, but she can't help but giggle softly as she sees its smile.

"Ah still can't believe et! An actual dragon!" she exclaims, getting closer to observe its features.

The dragon looks up at its rider, seeming to get approval.

"It's okay, bud."

The creature then lowers its head and growls, what sounds like a purr, while nudging her hand. Her eyes widen and she gasps lightly at the gesture but then laughs softly, petting its head in response. She marvels at the feel of its scales against her palm as it moves closer and the viking cannot help but smile at the scene.

~0~

Elinor goes pacing back and forth by the huge double doors to the grand hall. After what happened during the games, the clan leaders will surely bombard her with questions; questions she could only answer if the princess had returned. Or had been found, for that matter. She exhales sharply and composes herself before going in.

"Mah lady queen!" the Lord Macintosh calls out, noticing the royal enter.

And the three Scottish lords come running to her.

"Where is the princess? We have been waiting..." says the Lord MacGuffin.

"Patiently..." adds the Lord Dingwall.

Carrying herself in a queenly manner, she stands up to them with an authoritatively stern look on her face.

"Not tae worry, mah good lords. A search party has just been dispatched tae look fer her. As soon as she es found, ah shall have arrangements made fer her tae meet with yer sons." the queen responds, clasping her hands together in an effort to stay calm and reserved.

~0~

"So this is Scotland, huh?" asks Hiccup, tensing up at the thought of being on a known enemy land.

He tries to shake it off as he turns the fish he is cooking over the fire. Behind them, Angus and Toothless are seemingly enjoying the company of each other. Though strange and new to one another, they are fondly playing, sniffing, poking and exchanging gestures.

"Aye! An' wha' of Berk? Ah ne'er heard of et before, bu' ah've heard of yer people, th' Vikings."

Merida has learned from their history that the Scots have been conquered by the Vikings. Hiccup, on the other hand, was never really sure of what happened, but he knew that Stoick, his father and chief of the Hairy Hooligan viking tribe, has always loathed the Scots. And both of them know for a fact that their people have been at war for ages. Moreover, she just learned earlier that one of her suitors has scuttled the Viking longships in battle. She never paid much attention in her royal lessons though, but she gets intrigued meeting someone of his origin.

"Well, I may be a viking, but I'm not like most of them." he says, "We have this certain image of being violent and bloodthirsty, but count me out."

She smiles gladly at hearing those words. Glancing down, she notices the metal prosthetic that serves as his left leg. The light from the fire makes it even clearer for her to see how meticulous of a gear it is. The urge to ask about his missing leg comes up, but she instead decides to ask about his strange name.

"An'... Hic-up? Wha' kind o' name es tha'?"

"Great name, I know!" he utters sarcastically, "But our people believed that strange names scare off gnomes and trolls. Not that there are many in our place but, you know..."

She giggles lightly and he smiles, delighted at the sound of it.

"Berk seems tae be an interestin' place," she remarks, observing the dragon and the horse as they play, "especially tha' ye have... dragons."

He lets out a small chuckle.

"Well, having a dragon does have its perks. We get to fly everywhere!" he exclaims, "And when you're up in the air, you just can't help but feel..."

"Free..." she finishes it off.

He looks at her surprised.

"Et's th' same feelin' ah get whene'er ah ride Angus. Jus' chasin' th' sun an' ridin' like th' wind..."

She gives him a soft smile, making him smile back. The sound of the toppling firewood as it slowly burns down suddenly catches his attention.

"I think it's done." he says.

He takes one of the skewered fishes and hands it to Merida.

"Thank ye."

And just when Hiccup is about to take a bite from his fish, Toothless comes up from behind him and snatches it right off the skewer. Both gasp as they watch the dragon gulp it down whole.

"Toothless, didn't you just eat your share?" the viking sneers.

The dragon just responds with a goofy face and a huge slobbery tongue sticking out. The princess laughs lightly.

"Oh, never mind. I'll just go get another one." and he eagerly stands to head back to the lake.

"Here, take mine instead. Ah'm naet hungreh anyway." she says, handing back her skewered fish.

"No, it's okay. I'll just-" his words are interrupted by a rumbling sound from his stomach.

She giggles, "Are ye sure?"

He looks back at her with a nervously embarrassed grin.

"I guess it won't hurt to share."

He sits back down and the night fury growls happily.


	4. Chapter 3: The Flight

It is late in the afternoon and the sun is almost disappearing into the horizon. Toothless goes over and nudges Merida, making her giggle.

"He really likes you." Hiccup remarks.

She turns to him with a big smile.

"Can ah ride 'im?"

He scratches his head, "Um, regarding that, Toothless here cannot fly on his own. His artificial tail needs to be controlled. So, if you want to ride him-"

"Ah'd have tae ride wi'h ye!" she cuts him off, "Tha's a'right."

She tickles its chin and it responds with low purrs. Angus seems to get jealous and he starts nudging her from behind. She caresses him in return. Hiccup chuckles softly.

"Shouldn't your parents be looking for you by now... Merida?"

"Ugh! A search parteh es prob'ly lookin' fer meh by now..." she mumbles, hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Uh... a search party?! Woah, you must be someone important here then."

She shrugs nonchalantly and continues petting Toothless. The viking watches her for a moment until he suddenly realizes who she was.

"W-wait... Y-you're the princess!" he gasps and hastily bows to the ground before her.

She sighs and rolls her eyes, "Och, please! Get up!"

"But you're the princess! Why didn't you tell me? It's not everyday I meet someone of your ranking! I should be calling you _Your Highness_ or _milady_!" he exclaims, not rising from his position.

"Do naet call meh _milady_!" she blurts out, "An' get up, now!"

"Okay, okay... as Your Highness commands!" he says, sitting up with hands held up in mock surrender.

She shoots him a deathly glare. If only looks could kill, he'd be dead right on the spot.

"Uh... that was wrong..."

A toothy yet nervous grin shows on his face and for some reason, she calms down. She turns back to the dragon and he lets out a sigh of relief, watching her from the corner of his eye as the two creatures continue to frolic around her. Seeing them interact makes the viking glad, especially at the thought of how easily she won the dragon's trust. After a while of fondly watching them, Hiccup goes over to Toothless and hoists himself on. He holds out a hand to Merida, who stands up next to them with a hesitant look forming on her face.

"Are ye sure et's safe?"

"Of course, I am." he smiles.

The night fury looks back at her with a convincing tooth-less smile. She takes a deep breath before taking his hand and hoisting herself onto the dragon's back. As she tries to sit comfortably, she stops short, realizing something she had to do... once they fly. An awkward feeling suddenly creeps up on her. She then clears her mind and tries to relax. She asked for this anyway, she reckons.

"Uh, princess, you're going to have to-"

He gets cut off as she does what he was about to say - to hold on to him. She is now holding on to his shoulders with both hands. Though he cannot feel the firmness of her grip through his armor, he can feel the tension coming from her. He too, tenses up and feels a little awkward, but nevertheless, it has to be done. He changes the mode of his prosthesis and hooks himself on.

"Okay, bud. We're ready."

With a mighty beat of its wings, the dragon takes off into the air, gaining speed as they go higher. The redhead shrieks as they are lifted off the ground. She shuts her eyes and grips tighter on Hiccup's shoulders like her life depends on it, as it would somehow be on this case. Her ears pop from the pressure building up in the atmosphere. Without looking down, she can sense that they are already way too far from land. Soon enough, Toothless reaches the clouds and he starts to glide slowly.

"Are you alright there?" asks the viking, looking back at the princess.

As Merida feels the gentle and steady blowing of the wind, she slowly opens her eyes. She gasps as she sees the entire kingdom of Dun Broch, along with a majestic view of the fields and forests that surround it. She has always been out in these forests, but this is her first flying experience, and everything looks so different from above.

"Et's... breathtakin'!"

Her eyes widen in awe as they go further into the sky, soaring and gliding through the breeze. She flips her hair as it sways with the wind, enjoying the feeling. Her light blue dress goes flowing behind her in an unsteady motion but she doesn't care, the rush of excitement getting the better of her. They pass through more layers of clouds and the redhead cannot help but playfully reach out for them. Both the dragon and its rider smile gladly at the princess' amusement. As they push further and cross the open sea, the night fury starts to fly low. Low enough, they are able to smell the ocean breeze and the coolness it brings. Toothless takes a short side glide, dipping part of his wing into the sea. The princess then leans down and reaches out for the water. She waves her hand about and unintentionally splashes the viking with some of it. He looks back at her and she giggles lightly, causing him to smile and blush a bit. They fly a little faster reaching for the hills on the land up ahead until they see an amazing view of the setting sun.

"That's one amazing sunset, right, bud?"

The night fury growls lightly in affirmation as they pause for a moment, flying in place to admire the beauty of the view.

"And that's not even all of it!"

"Wha' do ye mean?"

"I'll show you."

And they continue to soar through the sky until it is dark. Dark enough, stars twinkle above them like sparkling diamonds. Her eyes soften at the sight. A moment later, they reach the spot where a magnificent view of the Aurora Borealis lights up the night sky. It seems as though the viking knew exactly where and when these sky highlights are to be found.

"Th' northern lights!" she gasps, "Et's beautiful... Amazin'!"

The dragon growls lightly, wanting to be noticed.

"Yer amazin' too, Toothless." she remarks, caressing his side.

The creature happily lets out a purr at her touch. Soon enough, on their way back, they once again see the kingdom, which is now glistening with night lights. It leaves the princess marveling at the experience. And after a few more moments, they land back on the cliff. Hiccup dismounts himself and helps Merida down.

She turns to him with a soft smile, "Ah've had a great time. Thank ye, Hiccup."

He gladly returns the smile. Angus neighs as he runs toward his owner. As she is about to hoist herself on the horse, the viking scratches the back of his head and clears his throat, seeming to get her attention.

"So, I guess... this is goodbye?"

She looks back at him and their eyes meet.

"Maybe..." she almost sounds like whispering.

Toothless whimpers lightly and looks intently at her with drooping ears. She cannot help but let out a breathless chuckle. She too has become fond of the creature, and as if on cue, a thought strikes her mind.

"Maybe... ye can visit meh again sometime." she says.

The dragon's ears perk up, showing its signature tooth-less smile and turning to its rider, who equally had a bright expression on his face. The redhead giggles lightly at this.

"Um, so... tomorrow?" he asks stickily.

She hoists herself onto the horse.

"Tae'morrow then... viking!" she replies with a smirk.

She pulls on the reins and the horse neighs, standing up on its hind legs before galloping away. The viking turns to their direction and watches the princess dash through the forest until she is completely out of sight, leaving him in a fit of daze. His reptilian friend then nudges him from behind.

"What?!" he huffs.

It growls happily at him and he knows that he cannot hide the sense of excitement that is rushing through him.


End file.
